Grand Island, N.Y. (WBEN) - Where should the Town of Grand Island develop its new senior/rec center?
The town would prefer to acquire a Hyundai dealership at 1910 Alvin Road and convert into the center. In addition to the anchor, 24,800-square-foot dealership building, the property has 84 acres. The dealership, by the way, wil be relocating to Niagara Falls.
The Alvin Road proposal is the subject of a public referendum on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
Grand Island leaders need public approval to issue $10 million in bonds to finance the project.
"This project answers a lot of questions for us," said Jim Sharpe, Grand Island Long Range Planning Committee chairman.
But, developer Frank Chinnici said incorporating the joint senior/rec center project into his mixed-use, residential-driven Rivertown project along Grand Island Boulevard puts the building in the heart of the town's population base and in a more central location.
"That was spelled out in the town's comprehensive development plan," Chinnici said.
Sharpe counters it may serve the town better, from a financial standpoint, to pay - up front - for the new center rather than signing a long term lease.
"This a golden opportunity," Sharpe said.
The new center would replace Grand Island's increasingly obsolete senior center tucked into a 1950s era Nike Base on Whitehaven Road.
We've been patching that building up for years," Sharpe said.
It would also allow for the first ever indoor community rec center to be developed on the island. Grand Island has outdoor rec facilities and leases school gyms around town for its indoor programs like basketball leagues.
"The trouble is schools are seeing more activities and a greater need for their own space," Sharpe said. "It is time for us to do this."